


Elasticity

by Blue_Hood



Series: Power Prompts [6]
Category: Fantastic Four, Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Insanity, Mentor/Protégé, Mentors, Possession, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27240718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: Based on Chapter 24 of What Superpower Should Tony Stark Have?I couldn't resist making Tony Stark a mentor and rival to Reed Richards
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Reed Richards & Tony Stark
Series: Power Prompts [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986601
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	1. Battle of New York

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The original chapter noted above, I always copy and paste the original chapter as Chapter One of the expansion fics to make them possible to read separately

Dropping off the nuke, Tony took a shuddering breath and hit the emergency eject, breaking his fall on Selvig's machine and flapping like a sail in the wind for a few minutes afterwards while he caught his breath. Once he had his bearings, he snapped back into his normal human shape and once again cursed Norman Osborn while thanking Howard. If Osborn hadn't been screwing around in the academy's lab using Tony's pass then there never would have been a lab accident to cover up. Okay, truth be told, their fighting in the lab over the stolen pass might have played a role in causing the accident but the point stood that they nearly died. How- Tony's dad stabilized his son within hours of getting the news. Like father, like son, Normie's old man refused the rare offer of aid given by Howard. Tony came close to melting, to becoming so much lab gunk. He had a feeling the delay made Norman's situation worse but he couldn't, for the life of him, remember what that situation was and hoped psychic powers were not involved.

Back to New York, Tony laid on top of his Tower, huffing as Romanoff and Selvig stared down at him, "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"How did you do that?"

"Well, I figured when the portal started closing that the suit wouldn't have time to get through so I improvised. Now, Natashalie, be a dear, drop the scepter and get off my property. I'm not trusting SHIELD with a box of matches after this, much less alien super-weapons." When Romanoff didn't immediately respond, three suits manhandled her to regroup with the other Avengers.

JARVIS' voice sounded through one of the suits to extend an invitation for Dr. Banner to stay at the Tower. Two more suits carried Loki's beaten form through the broken window and dropped it in front of Thor before the armors clarified that Dr. Banner was the only Avenger being granted access to the Tower, all others will have to go through the same hoops as ordinary citizens.

Ten minutes after the battle ended, Tony had JARVIS spam anything incoming from SHIELD and go through their files with a fine toothed comb, sending anything that flagged to the relevant public agencies. An hour later, Foster and Lewis had joined Selvig, although the former was disappointed to have missed Thor, and the ex-brainwashed scientist asked again "How did you do that thing where you caught the building?"

Looking around at his fellow scientists and friends, Tony sighed and said "That's a bit of a long story. Before I went to MIT, dad sent me to this special boarding school. They were more about skill level than age and I naturally breezed through their science courses so they gave me a pass to the lab. I was the only student allowed unsupervised access to the lab. As curfew still applied to me, that access was a privilege that could be revoked. Norman Osborn was a classmate of mine, our parents had a deal about not trying to recreate Captain America but in Norman's mind, that deal would die with them and he wanted a leg up on me before then. He stole my pass and snuck into the lab. I confronted him, no automated lock could stop a Stark after all. We fought, there was a lab accident. I'm not sure what happened to him, all I know is dad had me stable in a matter of hours and offered to help Osborn but he refused until it was almost too late. I know we had very different reactions, Norman can't do what I can do and I'm not totally clear on what he can do that humans can't do. Stabilized, I'm kinda rubbery. Before I was stabilized, I was kinda gooey. Disgusting I know but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, doing that where the world could see was a calculated risk, sorta." JARVIS displayed samples of the Index files, "SHIELD tried to convince me to claim that Iron Man was piloted by a bodyguard back before I made my I-am-Iron-Man announcement, it doesn't take a genius to see why they'd want people to think some nameless bodyguard was Iron Man instead of me, the media darling that I am. Same principle applies here, they can't make me disappear. If the world sees me turn into a kite then people won't dismiss supers out of hand so easily. It's the beginning of a new age, ladies and gentlemen, let's enjoy it."


	2. Fantastic Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Reed Richards

Tony intervened on the Four's behalf. And yeah, they were a team now with a cool name, much cooler than the Avengers, they were the Fantastic Four. Tony loved teasing Reed with that- unfortunately, the Mister Fantastic jokes kinda stuck and became his codename, not cool! Johnny enjoyed the Tower, Ben and Bruce bonded over their mutual angst. Sue- Tony shuttered- teamed up with Pepper, he wanted to run for the hills just thinking about it but he reminded himself that they would be leaving as soon as all four of them had mastered their new powers.

Reed did not like Tony. He felt the man threw his money around too much. When Erik Selvig caught him voicing this opinion, the physicist stopped and quite literally laughed in his face. Bruce Banner, who often worked with Selvig, asked "You realize you're using Tony's lab, right?"

"Tony's an inventor-"

"With the same powers you now possess, except he got his before he was 15 because a classmate stole his lab pass and nearly killed both of them when he tried to get it back. Tony would tell you all of this if you actually talked to him instead of sniping at each other."

"I thought-"

"That the Battle of New York footage was doctored? That classmate I mentioned was Norman Osborn and he nearly died because his father refused Howard Stark's help until the eleventh hour. Tony was stabilized in hours and managed to attain basic control shortly after, which is why nobody can find any proof that he had the powers before New York. All we know about Osborn's transformation is that it was different and that young Norman was trying to prepare for another super soldier arms race in that lab. Odds are, he doesn't want anyone looking into Tony too much because they might find out what he became. Tony wanted to use his very public display of powers to get superhumans their basic rights." Bruce glared at Reed "If anything, that's what he wants from you four. SHIELD goes after people like us, they have a very clear cut capture, control or kill policy. Kids have been killed. The Avengers? That's control dressed up, most controlled or contained supers suffer mutilation or worse. Capture, that's locking our kind up in a deep dark hole that never sees the light of day because kill isn't an option and either all attempts at control fail or they're deemed too dangerous to be left to live among normals. Get over yourself, Reed. Tony hasn't done anything to arouse your suspicions."

"Hasn't done anything? How'd he even know about our ship?"

"You tripped our early warning system, which was set up after New York to pick up on incoming alien threats. Allow me to reiterate, this is Tony's lab that he's letting you use, even though you constantly spit on his kindness. Imagine your roles were reversed, can you honestly say you'd stand for someone disrespecting you the way you're disrespecting him? Tony can kick you out and let your friends stay. Technically, Pepper owns the building and she's not a fan of users so count yourself lucky Sue and Tony are in your corner on this. Grow up and get over yourself, Dr. Richards, maybe then you'll be able to learn a fraction of the things Tony can do."

"That's quite enough, Dr. Banner. I think our test results should be done." Selvig could hardly keep the humor out of his voice and once they were out of earshot, he said "I see Ben's been helping you with the Hulk, is that relationship balanced?"

"I'm not-"

"Are you helping him as much as he helps you?"

"I try."

"Good."

Back in the lab, Bruce's many words finally sank in for Reed after Sue came in to try to talk some sense into him, "I guess I should apologize. Dr. Banner's right, I wouldn't allow anyone to treat me the way I've treated Tony and he is only trying to help."

"Better late than never. He should be in his workshop, that's in the basement."

"Thanks, Sue."

"JARVIS, make sure to warn Tony."

"Already done."

In the workshop, Tony preempted Reed by saying "J showed me the security footage."

"I really am sorry, Tony."

Tony sighed and with a gesture, JARVIS blacked out the glass separating the workshop from the rest of the floor then Tony took his shirt off and Reed got a little uncomfortable. "Chill, Stretch, I'm not coming onto you. I may be bi but you're surely straight and in a relationship."

"Right."

"Look at me." Tony turned to the side and stretched slightly, revealing horrible scarring. "Chemical burns. Osborn's like Hammer, his opinion of himself is infinitely higher than his actual abilities." He sighed and switched tracks, telling Reed "Dad was from the Lower East Side, he had to lie a lot to get half a chance at overcoming that. Seeing what a normal upper class upbringing produces in Osborn, I'm actually thankful my parents never even tried to fit in there. Norman and I were fighting over the pass, pushing, shoving, like boys do. Norman had an experiment going and he put too much attention on his fight with me, that's what caused the accident. I don't know what happened to him but if my father had arrived even an hour later then he would've had to find a new heir because I was almost turned to sludge. Lucky for you, your powers are all a bit naturally stabilized."

Reed asked the obvious question "Does it hurt?" Followed by the less obvious question "Does it interfere with your Arc Reactor? How does that work?"

"I'm waiting for a woman named Helen Cho to finish development on a healing cradle because I'll need it to augment my powers to remove the Reactor. There is a very real hole in my chest, Reed. I spend so much time like this," he shrunk back down, "That this is how I look when I'm knocked out. Yinsen never saw my scars, even as I got a few new ones."

"Does it hurt?"

"No, not in years, decades even. Dad had to keep waking me up when he was trying to stabilize me, had to keep me awake to make sure my brain remained in working order, that hurt. Afterwards, after he let me sleep, there was a time when I couldn't remember the accident but I remembered him stabilizing me. Y'know what that means?"

"You thought your father experimented on you."

"Yeah and he never denied it, never denied he made me a freak, didn't even try to defend himself and that's what I've never been able to understand about the whole thing. Norman was a manipulative brat, he swiped my bag while I was in the lab when he was supposed to be at lunch or something and tossed it to some other kids, tossed it back and forth, that's how he got my badge. I figured everything out except why dad never bit back when I yelled at him for making me into this." Tony shook his head to clear it, "What do you want to work on first? Let's get your team up and running and out of my Tower before you lose the ability to represent the oppressed Enhanced simply through association."

"Uh, how did you do the parachute thing?"

"Let’s go to the roof." Tony pulled on his shirt as he led the way out of the room. Two suits of armor met them on the roof where the scientists walked to the ledge. Tony said "Step one, relax your muscles. Tension causes bunches and in our case, literal knots. You want to glide, don't be a spitball." Reed tried, "Keeping relaxed is the trick. The armors are your safety net." With that, Tony pushed him off the roof. When Reed failed to change shape, Tony jumped after him and caught him, one suit of armor pulling them back up by grabbing Tony.

"That wasn't very helpful."

"Eh, worth a shot. I needed to get a baseline for instinctive control."

"Oh."

"Spread your arms and legs apart." Tony demonstrated. "Fill the gaps with your torso." Again, he demonstrated, looking more like a piece of paper than a human being and Reed copied. "I can have an armor throw you like this and you can make yourself more aerodynamic as needed but as far as I can tell, you already got the basics and are probably ready to move to the Baxter. I had the elevators replaced by Hulk grade ones as a part of my Avengers Accessibility Initiative, name's a work in progress but I basically told people we need to try to get more Hulk grade elevators in residential areas to help movers. See ya around, Stretch Armstrong."


	3. Spider-Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter Parker and Harry Osborn need help

Tony kept an eye out for supers, hoping to get to them before SHIELD could and protect them. Sometimes he succeeded, like with Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. Other times, he failed, like with Centipede and Steve Rogers. He never expected to have Norman Osborn's son seek him out. Peter called ahead to tell him his friend, Harry Osborn, needed Tony's help and that they were on their way. Tony had Happy wave them through security before the inventor greeted the young man with a "Hello, Mr. Osborn."

The teen jumped, "Don't call me that, please." He was a nervous wreck and Tony once again wondered what change Norman experienced after the accident. "Pete said you could help, with my dad. He said you knew what happened to him, that you'd believe me when I say he's a monster."

Tony suppressed the urge to roll his eyes "You saw the Battle of New York, right? Saw me fall out of the wormhole and turn into pizza dough?"

"Yes."

"There was a lab accident, actually, let me start over. Your dad and I got into a fight while he was breaking school rules and performing an experiment unsupervised. The fight took your father's attention away from the experiment and that caused the accident, we didn't crash into it or anything, I just sorta distracted your dad. It took my dad a few hours of trial and error before he stabilized me. Your grandfather, he and my dad signed this legally binding document, I forget if it was a treaty or a contract or what, but they signed it saying they would not engage in a super soldier arms race. Your father figured the document would be voided when his father died so he was trying to prepare for that. My father offered to help your father but your grandfather refused until the eleventh hour, nearly lost his son, you were almost never born. Dad never told me what became of your dad, never talked about it because he was, believe it or not, a man of his word and I'll bet your grandfather took steps to ensure that. Now, you said your father's a monster, I assume you mean that literally. Care to explain." Harry lifted his shirt, revealing claw marks, "Oh." Tony asked "Do you mind if I have my AI scan you? If you need medical treatment, JARVIS can guide me on that."

"I don't mind."

"JARVIS." Tony picked up a tablet, "Okay. Can you tell me what he looked like when he did that or did he look human?"

"He looked like a freaking goblin but then he changed back."

"He can shift between forms, that complicates things." Tony looked at the teen "Sorry. Why don't you take a seat?"

"What are you doing?" Harry asked as Peter guided him to a seat and used his web-shooter to snag a drink, apparently he trusted his friend with his secret.

"I'm looking to see if your father's been active as the Goblin and contemplating turning him over to SHIELD if he has." Tony sat down across from them in the penthouse sitting area. "Harry, let go of your shirt and look at me." Once he was looking, Tony stretched to his full, proper height and lifted his own shirt. "Some of the scars are from the Reactor, some from the accident. I believe you, there is almost nothing I wouldn't believe but I need you to believe something too, I need you to believe that Norman being your father does not excuse this sort of behavior, you are not at fault. Your father may be a monster but you're not and he can't make you become one, do you understand?"

"I've heard it all before, people care until they don't."

"Not to be blunt but has it occurred to you that your father may be collecting people like us, that maybe he has a psychic on his side? I don't want you to totally lose your faith in humanity. Faith in society's systems, that's probably long gone, I'm guessing but a lot of people are good. The problem is people like your father. They take in good people, charm them by promising them everything they've dreamed of, only to make them a part of a system that swallows up dreamers, to get them thinking they're stuck so that they won't rise up against them. Change isn't easy but it's possible, big and little change alike. I could go off on a tangent comparing your best friend to my father, how the world is so different now in how it treats remarkable people who don't happen to be born into elite families but I'll spare you the lecture. Harry, do you actually believe you can overcome your father?"

"I don't know," the kid was still anxious.

Tony let go of his shirt, "I could contact SHIELD, let them know your father's been messing with their operations, they'd make sure he never did that again. SHIELD is like the real life Men In Black but we don't have nearly enough aliens coming to Earth so they go after superhumans too. It'd be easy, I might even get them off my back for a while so I could help other people like Peter but I won't do it if you don't want to."

"That seems extreme and they sound shady."

"They sure are. Alright, we won't do that. Do you want your father taken out of the picture?" Tony held up his hand "I mean, do you want someone to stop him before he hurts more people? He's broken some laws and I might be able to find a way to cure his Goblin form but that won't change what he's done. Do you understand?"

"Yes, to the last one. I don't know what to do."

"Breathe, start by breathing. It's okay, you're okay. I'd offer to give you some under armor but I can't imagine that would go over well if your father discovered it. Here, give me your phone for a second." Tony pulled out his own and held them together, JARVIS did the rest. "There, now you got a panic button." He showed Harry where it was hidden "Your dad starts going off or goes Goblin, hit that. Okay?"

Harry nodded shakily, "Thank you, sir."

"Call me Tony and if your dad asks why you were here, say Peter invited you to check out my lab. He'll probably be happy to have you spy on me, if he's anything like the boy I knew."

"Okay."

"Be safe, Harry. That's the most important thing."

"I will."

"Alright." Tony turned to walk away, throwing over his shoulder, "You can stay as long as you want. I got a meeting with Reed Richards."

Bruce Banner was just one of a few remarkable people Tony managed to save from the likes of SHIELD and corrupt military. They stuck together and formed their own team, although they were still working on a name. He asked the team to meet him at the Baxter. "A Goblin, seriously?" was Johnny Storm's reaction when Tony finished explaining what Harry told him.

Reed said, "It sort of explains why Norman's father rebuffed yours, he probably didn't want to risk word getting out that his son was a monster."

"Yeah, alright, but why not go public and piggyback off Tony's coming out during the Battle of New York?" asked Johnny.

"Perhaps Norman wasn't truly stabilized, perhaps he only got the barest amount of control over his physical appearance." Reed turned to Tony, "You knew the Osborns, what do you think?"

"I only knew Norman and I never thought he changed from the brat who nearly killed us both but I didn't think he'd abuse his son. People care until they don't, that makes it sound like Harry's been a victim of child abuse for a long time and that he's tried to report it. The claws probably pushed him over the edge but I have to wonder if he's seen his father's other form before and just wrote it off as his imagination. I don't want to think the worst but Peter got his powers from an Oscorp spider, that makes it seem like Norman learned nothing from the accident, except maybe how to hide his work better. If he'd abuse his son, what's to say he wouldn't try to enhance him, to make Harry like him. Harry also seemed pretty terrified by that implication, he jumped nearly a foot in the air when I called him Mr. Osborn."

"This all sounds serious, you can't really wait until Harry decides he's okay with losing his father." Sue argued, "You know how abuse works."

"How does he know that?" asked Johnny.

"Intellectually, matchstick, I intellectually know that abuse victims rarely escape. Everyone knows that and if Harry's tried several times, to the point where he expects people to stop caring after a while, then his odds are infinitely worse than the average victim. I am worried that Norman might try to make his son like us, ignoring the fact that both of us nearly died in the process. There's no way to control what Harry will become, Norman can't even ensure his son will survive if he tries to recreate the accident."

Reed said "There are other variables too. You were already in MIT when you were Harry's age, which means he's now older than you and Norman were. Plus Norman was this goblin back when Harry was conceived so there might be a genetic element and if Norman's trying to push his son to confront him then he's likely planning to be there to see his son change, which would involve Norman being party to a second accident. Since it was an accident, there's no way to perfectly recreate it because there are too many unknown variables."

"I'm afraid Norman might have already tried. I have no proof but there is some suspicious activity going on there and Norman's slimy enough to turn the tables on me if I try to confront him. The fact he can change form, it would be pretty easy to fight me as the Goblin then appear as an innocent business rival when witnesses or law enforcement show up. I'm known for my engineering and coding skills so video won't be enough and I'm rich so witness integrity will be called into question. Harry's with Peter in my Tower right now so even if he testifies that I'm telling the truth, that statement could be called into question. I'm afraid, we're in a stalemate. I'm tempted to break my word to Harry and tell SHIELD what Norman is but before the accident, Norman was a master manipulator. I don't want to risk him taking over SHIELD and getting all of the supers they got under his thumb."

"What's stopping Norman from going after you?" asked Carol Danvers, one of the supers Tony stole away from SHIELD and an old friend of Rhodey's.

"The same thing that keeps me from going after him, we can both look normal and play a crowd. That's it! I can kill two birds with one stone, if I get a chance to fight Norman, I can make it a public fight so that everyone sees the Goblin. When I'm knocked out, I look like this. There's a chance that Norman reverts to his human form too and if he doesn't then he'll still have to change back sooner or later to avoid being outed by circumstances. We still have to figure out how to detain him but outing him is a good first step, right?"

"I suppose," agreed Reed.

Jessica Jones, a young woman on SHIELD's radar who had not yet been Indexed, shrugged "How are you gonna fight him publicly without endangering the public?"

"With help from all of you and Spider-Man. I can match Norman, I know that for a fact."

"How could you?" asked Reed "You didn't even know what his transformation was until Harry told you."

"And you still don't understand our power." Tony told the other scientist "Reed, elasticity is all about creativity. You can reshape your body into anything you can imagine and since we're elastic, a lot of things bounce off. Now this won't make any sense until you use it but the trick is forgetting your original shape, forgetting what body part contributes to what part of your new shape. Trust me, it's a lot less painful. If you do that then your muscles won't feel as sore because when you revert, they don't carry the strain as much. It sounds convoluted, even to me. Like I said, it doesn't make sense until you do it."

"I don't see the relevance."

"Turn into a sheet." Tony demonstrated and Reed copied then Tony reverted and pointed to where Reed's waist had been.

"Oh," Reed reverted "That is useful information."

"Johnny, don't," Sue said preemptively.

"Now, we just need to set Norman up to go Goblin and get in touch with local authorities to help keep people back," Tony said. "Easy, peasy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned into a two-parter (at least) because I decided to hold off on Norman's debut


	4. The Green Goblin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into the mind of Norman Osborn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fun to write.

Ever since Norman was a child, younger than his son Harry is now, he heard voices in his head. At first these voices scared little Normie Osborn but over time they became a friend. When his father caught him crying because The Voices were scaring him, old Amberson Osborn berated him "Get over yourself, Norman!" He grabbed the boy by his hair and threw him down some stairs, spewing abuse at him. Norman clearly remembered jumping to his feet, clutching his stomach as The Change overtook him for the first time. Then his father was the one who was afraid, afraid a goblin was going to get him. Norman could never remember exactly what happened once The Change overtook him but The Voices told him, in detail if asked, they were the only friends he needed.

Harry was quite the disappointment, nothing seemed to toughen him up. Norman listened to The Voices, who had no need for names, and did as they suggested. Once, after Emily passed away, he wondered privately if he was just a voice to them but The Voices assured him they were all equally real and at his lowest, he believed them. Norman drew the line at physically attacking Harry, words have more power as far as he was concerned, after all The Voices did more good than his father's tough love ever could. When Harry disappeared while Norman was changed, the businessman finally took a look at what The Change made him instead of destroying all proof as usual. The Voices didn't like that but they held no power over him, or so he thought. The entire time he was on his computer, he had to fight himself to enter the necessary commands and then he saw it. The Goblin his father was so terrified of, saw himself slash Harry's stomach. "He was a weakling, a disappointment," one of The Voices hissed "He needs to be toughened up if he is to be worthy of your legacy."

Another Voice disputed this "It is far too late. He cannot be changed, he is stuck. You should put him out of everyone's misery."

"No, I did not kill my father and I will not kill my son."

"What about your wife?" the second Voice laughed.

They were provoking him, he knew, and usually he would consider that for the best but not today. The first Voice spoke to him "What are you going to do? Call Stark." Amberson's greatest grievance after Norman was changed, before The Change overtook him, was how his irresponsible behavior had forced his father to depend on a rival. Everything would have been fine if not for Tony.

Norman braced his arms on the desk and bowed his head, squeezing his eyes shut. In his mind, where The Voices could unfortunately hear him, he chanted the word No, telling himself he would not give in. Not now, never again. "Oh, but you will," answered the second Voice, "You always do. This is for your own good." One of his hands grabbed the letter opener and suddenly, he was watching himself through a window, unable to fight back as the improvised weapon swung towards his throat. Survival instinct kicked in and he changed.

For the first time ever, he was conscious during The Change but he was now a prisoner in his own mind, watching the destruction he wrought. First he destroyed his computer then he went to a hidden compartment he didn't know about and got on some kind of motorized hang-glider, a sudden flashback covered the imagery and he saw himself in college building the glider, dubbing it the Goblin Glider as a joke. Crashing through the super-reinforced windows, the Goblin Glider flew towards Stark Tower, where he saw Harry sitting in Tony Stark's penthouse with his friend Peter, who was kneeling in front of him but upon seeing the Goblin, he stood and dropped the medical supplies he was holding. Peter had been treating Harry's wounds, Norman struggled to no avail and the Goblin flew away to get more speed. He was knocked off the Glider by War Machine but as the Goblin fought back, Norman took this time to double his efforts. The Voices lashed out at his attempts, subjecting Norman to excruciating pain unlike- no, not unlike any other. Norman realized that The Voices' power lie in him, in his past and his mind. Sure, they controlled The Change but, his father's words came back to him and his window was once again covered as he witnessed his father's verbal abuse, hearing him rant and rave about how Norman's irresponsibility had ruined him. That's it, The Change came from an experiment. Norman couldn't erase the past or cure himself, not while The Voices were in control but maybe he could- Norman took a shaky breath and forced himself to go further back, focusing on his father's words, on the accusation that Norman caused all his problems. The Voices stopped inflicting pain on him, giving him a brief reprieve as he relived that fateful fight. He relived the accident over and over, screaming in agony every time. Slowly, he got over it and inched forward, remembering what happened next, the doctors and the treatments (experiments), sometimes he heard his father's voice and in those memories, he also heard himself screaming at his father to make it stop.

In the real world, the proximity alarm at the Tower went off when the Goblin went after Harry. Rhodey was the first one to respond, practically throwing himself into his armor to get there first as the Goblin prepared to make a second pass. There were points when he stopped and just hovered, talking and laughing to himself, giggling and chuckling softly but he was soon picking up speed and before he could get halfway back to the Tower, War Machine crashed into him. The look on the Goblin's face almost seemed hopeful, like a tortured soul seeing the face of salvation, but the expression was warped as it/he fought the American hero. The others were close behind, Rhodey heard confirmation from Tony that Peter and Harry were guided to the Smash Room where nothing short of several seriously ticked off Hulks could hurt them. The kids were safe. Fighting together was interesting, Tony timed his departure from the suit and draped himself over the Goblin, further demonstrating to Reed the real advantage in elasticity, not even wincing as the Goblin struggled against him, trying to pull him off. Half of the heroes helped police with crowd control while the other half (Tony's half) focused on keeping the fight contained.

In Norman's mind, the second Voice told him "There is no need for this pain, we can make it all go away."

"No," Norman shouted in his mind "I won't, I can't." His younger self was currently being electrocuted, where did his father find these doctors? His screams only indicated life to them. When Norman was first hit with excruciating pain, his mind self fell to the ground in a heap but now, even as he relived the agony of his original transformation, even as his memories were overlaid on top of one another, the pain from each being pooled together- Even as he felt a lifetime's worth of a pain all at once, Norman pulled himself to his feet. He faced forward and said with conviction "No." The word echoed through his mind and came out the Goblin's mouth in Norman's voice. Norman charged the window through which he saw his past and present, breaking through and falling. His fall was broken by a Goblin Glider that morphed into a more acceptable form, the hoverboard that he originally wanted, through which he had wanted to prove his engineering mettle. He flew through his mindscape, a version of New York, and as he let his most recent memories wash over him, his imagined New York began to look more and more like the real thing as Norman flew to the site of his fight with the Avengers. Stopping above the downed Goblin, he took a deep breath and plunged into his other form. With a gasp, he broke through the surface of his mind and into the real world. "I surrender!" were the first words out of his mouth as The Change reversed, leaving Norman Osborn. For a brief moment, he pondered a rather inconsequential question, how was he always clothed when he changed back? The clothes weren't even stretched or anything, which seemed strange but there was no time to think about that, although he was sure he'd have all the time in the world later. Tony got off of him and Norman reached out to the Glider, under the watchful eyes of Earth's greatest heroes, turning it off. Slowly, he stood up from where the Goblin had crashed down and put his hands on his head, marching towards the police.

Tony got in his way, "What just happened?"

"I'm not sure as to the cause but my mind has been broken for most of my life, I just never cared to know how much or deal with the problem until today."

"What changed today?"

"I saw the change, saw what I became when I gave into the insanity and I didn't like it because it forced me to see who I really am. I suppose that is why our transformations vary so greatly, they are an embodiment of our core natures. You are endlessly flexible, physically and mentally whereas I am a monster, through and through. Now if you'll excuse me."

"We're not letting the cops take you."

"I don't understand."

"You're coming back with us. There are people out there, like General Thaddeus Ross, who have means and motive to try to weaponize you if we let the cops take you."

"Very well then." Norman crossed his wrists in front of him but Tony just shook his head and pointed to the heroes' jet before walking alongside him to board it and then locking him into his seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who enjoyed Goblin Redemption? Aside from Thanos, I find myself unable to write truly evil villains. I keep giving them a road to redemption, guess I believe there's good in every human being. Where should I go with this next?


End file.
